


What Belongs in a Home?

by DemigodOfAgni



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: And they become, F r i e n d s, Gen, Lila Barton be a little salty and sour and bitter, Post-snap, Thanos the grape is still dead not-sorry, Tony Stark is still dead sorry, basically just dissecting everything and making it sound sad, but don't worry, post-Avengers: Endgame, post-hypothetical Spider-Man 3, she's gonna talk to everyone, sorry if this is sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23256574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemigodOfAgni/pseuds/DemigodOfAgni
Summary: "Older than water, stubborn as stone,"There'll be no forgiveness for all that you've known,"All these days, all these days get heavy..."—Imagine Dragons,'Second Chances'What belongs in a home? When Tony Stark is revered as the greatest superhero on Earth after ending the reign of terror brought by Thanos the Mad Titan, everything is not quite what it used to be.After all, it's not everyday Lila Barton gets to attend a family reunion consisting of the Avengers and their loved ones.But there's just one thing: it's an alien world to her now. How could she possibly find the answers to the issues that bubbled up from deep in her core after the events of the Snap?It's a one shot, I think it's just plain sAd and oh boy
Relationships: Lila Barton and Cassie Lang, Lila Barton and Clint Barton, Lila Barton and Harley Keener, Lila Barton and Morgan Stark, Lila Barton and Nathaniel Barton and Cooper Barton, Lila Barton and Peter Parker
Comments: 5
Kudos: 21





	What Belongs in a Home?

_**What Belongs in a Home?** _

Lila knew she was dead for too long.

It was one thing to disappear for what felt like hours and have five years whirl by in real life, and then come back to see her dad with a mohawk and a tonne of tattoos etched on his arms, but the Snap had hit her right in the feels when she realised that she had missed out on the opening day of _Trolls: World Tour_.

That was good stuff – and to think that she missed the day it was released was truly gut-wrenching.

And not only that – her friend Adrianna had seen it. And she was _sixteen_ now. Lila’s best friend was already going through high school, while Lila still had to finish up her math homework. But now, the school curriculum is all _whack_ and she’s learning stuff she shouldn’t need to learn until tenth grade.

Everything had turned…so wrong. So weird. So strange, unwelcoming, even.

And as said before, Lila knew she was dead for _way too long_.

Because she knew that sleepovers were generally loud and crazy with only two or three people present.

But this – _this_ – this was chaotic. This wasn’t a sleepover – it was a party, full of kids, in some warm and cosy cottage in the middle of the chilly woods that reminded of her of her home but at the same time looked alien to her.

In that moment, Lila could only hold her younger brother Nathaniel close to her as she stared up at her father with despair.

Her father, Clint Barton, looked down at her, smiling. ‘It’s okay, Hawkeye,’ he told her, eyes crinkling in using his own superhero name as Lila’s nickname. ‘It’s just for one night. This place belonged to Tony, and me and my buds are going to hang out here with you.’ He cocked his head, making his hair tilt in an odd direction. ‘Think of this as a…family reunion of sorts.’

‘But dad,’ Lila started, ‘we’ve been to all the family reunions. And they were boring. And…and how can you possibly enjoy being with _them_?’ At the last word, she gestured to the cottage, and the people who were inside.

The people who were enemies of her father. The ones who aimed and shot and fired at him for doing what he thought was right. The ones who tried to _kill_ him.

Her dad shrugged. ‘Sure, we’ve had our disagreements…but that’s what friends do. We disagree on things, and we always come back together, even if we don’t like those things at first.’

 _Friends don’t dump each other in jail_ , Lila thought heatedly, but she stayed quiet. She watched as her other brother Cooper weaved in between the trees down the track, whooping as he tried to chase the birds alongside another little girl with locks of brown hair, and another taller girl yelling out directions. She watched as two other boys sat beside one another on the docks of the lake that spread out beside the cottage, waving hands and babbling non-stop.

Nathaniel let out a giggle as he saw Cooper run into a tree.

Her father patted Lila on the shoulder. ‘Come on, Hawkeye, you’ve got friends to make. Don’t worry, these guys don’t bite.’

With that, her dad steered Lila and Nathaniel towards the open entry to the cottage, Lila’s mother following not too far behind. The woman who stood at the front waved greetings to them, her strawberry blonde hair glittering like gold in the warm light from inside. Lila had seen her on TV a few times – Pepper Potts, the CEO of Stark Industries.

Except, now she was married. Tony Stark was her husband, and they had a kid. Lila guessed that Ms. Potts was now Mrs. Stark. Could you call widowed women by their married names?

‘Welcome!’ Mrs. Stark said. Her smile was as bright as the sun, despite the empty space beside her. ‘How are you all today?’

‘Pretty chilly if I do say so myself, Pepper,’ Lila’s dad said, rubbing his hands. ‘Man, this place does get cold in the winter.’

‘But it’s the nice kind of cold,’ Lila’s mum said. ‘The kids love it when it snows. It’ll snow here soon, right?’

‘Yep!’ said Mrs. Stark. ‘I’ll call the kids inside, everyone’s waiting.’ Her eyes twinkled. ‘Hot chocolate for everyone.’

* * *

All the adults – her dad and mum, Mrs. Stark, that Ant-Man dude (Scott, she later learned), the Winter Soldier (“Bucky”, as she was told) and Mr. Wilson, and some of her dad’s old friends like Colonel Rhodes, the Vision and Ms. Maximoff, and Mr. Rogers – gathered in the kitchen, telling tales of their new, somewhat normal adventures, chortling at jokes and sarcasm and elbowing each other playfully.

In the Starks’ living room, however, with warm lighting and a couch covered with blankets and cushions, and the coffee table wielding cups of hot chocolate and an unopened packet of cards, it was quiet as seven kids didn’t make much of an attempt to initiate conversation.

Lila sat on the couch with her brothers sitting on either side of her, sipping her warm mug of hot chocolate. The sweet taste didn’t do much to quell the bitter taste at the back of her tongue as she stared at each individual kid present.

Sitting at the foot of the table were the two boys Lila had seen at the docks. One had a squarish jaw and a mop of curly brown hair and brown downcast eyes as he fumbled with his fingers, his grey sweater sitting snug over his flannel shirt and jeans. His socks were mismatched, one a black while the other was dark blue with red polka dots.

The other boy next to him had his maroon jacket unzipped, revealing a black T-shirt and fading jeans. He had taken his shoes and socks off, so the tips of his pale toes had gone a little pink from the warmth. His dirty blonde hair was combed over his head, leaving his face bright and visible, blue eyes shining.

On the other side of the table sat a girl who looked older than Lila, fiddling with a napkin. Her long brown hair was smoothed over her back, and her green eyes flicked back and forth between the people present. She then pulled her purple sweater vest tighter around herself and tucked her legs in.

And finally, sitting on a small red plastic chair was a girl no older than five and looking like a queen was the only person Lila knew by name: Morgan Stark. She seemed to be the only one unbothered by the awkwardness, with her brown eyes following the way her nimble fingers danced across the rim of her mug. Her curly brown hair was dangling over one shoulder, framing her Iron Man patterned shirt and pink pants. Her pale legs kept swinging rhythmically.

It was still silent when the boy with the curly brown hair let out a loud, ‘Ach- _CHOO_.’ He scratched his nose and mumbled something about how dust bunnies smell like demons from hell when no one gave him a _bless you_.

The girl with the purple sweater vest took a sip from her mug said quietly, ‘This hot chocolate is good.’

Morgan turned to look at her and beamed widely.

Next to Lila, Nathaniel made a loud slurping sound.

‘Nate,’ Lila hissed. ‘Manners.’

Nathaniel payed no attention as he stared at Morgan with a chocolate moustache coating his upper lip. ‘Where are the marshmallows?’ he asked.

Morgan gave him a cocked eyebrow. ‘Marshmallows?’

‘Yeah. The little squishy pink and white things people put in hot chocolates. Why don’t you have them?’

Lila frowned and whispered, ‘Nate, please—’

‘Mummy doesn’t have marshmallows,’ Morgan said. ‘She thinks they’re too soggy.’

The boy with the unzipped jacket let out a gasp that sounded way too fake. ‘Your mum thinks marshmallows are _soggy?_ ’

Lila watched as Morgan giggled and nodded enthusiastically. The boy placed a hand over his heart and elbowed the boy next to him. ‘D’you hear that, Peter?’ he said, his Tennessee accent thickening some of the syllables. ‘Pepper thinks she can get away with not treating Morgan the heavenly marshmallows. Maybe I should steal some from her _secret stash of candy goodness_.’

The curly haired boy, Peter, pushed away the other boy’s arm. ‘Quiet, Harley! She’ll hear you! We’ll never hear the end of it if she finds out we’re plotting against her!’

Morgan and Nathaniel howled with glee as Peter and Harley slapped each other’s hands, and Cooper snorted. Even the girl at the far end of the table cracked a grin. But the humour didn’t quite reach Lila, and she only smiled flatly at them.

It was weird. This whole thing was weird. She wanted to leave and just stand at her father’s side, bear the silence the adults gave her instead of the expectant looks the other kids gave her, like they wanted her to say something.

Finally, once the giggles died down, Cooper asked, ‘So, are all three of you, like, siblings?’ He pointed at Morgan, Peter and Harley. ‘Y’all look kind of similar. Woah – does that mean Tony Stark had _three kids?_ ’

Peter looked about ready to cry and Harley was about to laugh his head off when Morgan answered, ‘ _No!_ They aren’t my _real_ brothers!’ She leaned over the table to try and pat Harley’s knee, but her arm was too short, so she settled on pointing. ‘My daddy says he met Harley a _long, long_ time ago.’

‘I tried shooting him with my potato gun,’ Harley said, shrugging as he grinned.

Lila tried imagining Tony Stark being pummelled with an onslaught of potatoes. It was funny.

Morgan ran a hand through Peter’s hair as she said, ‘And daddy met Peter because he was Spider-Man, and he thought Peter was pretty funny.’

‘I am _not_ funny,’ Peter scoffed indignantly. ‘Can’t believe your father would think that about me.’

Lila’s thoughts fogged up for a second. Peter was Spider-Man?

Suddenly the girl from the other side yelped, ‘ _You’re_ Spider-Man?’

‘You’re _Spider-Man?_ ’ asked Cooper, whirling on him with a bewildered expression. ‘Wait, you’re the one whose face was all over TV!’

Lila hushed, ‘Cooper, don’t just blurt out everything!’

Peter ignored Lila and gave Morgan a wide-eyed look. ‘Morgunna Stark, you spilled the beans! I’m going to have to web you up now.’ Morgan shrieked as Peter jumped up and swiftly swooped her into his arms. As Morgan let loose a torrent of shrilly squeals and giggles, Peter turned to everyone else.

‘Yeah,’ he said quietly. ‘My face was all over the news, wasn’t it? Some bad guy thought he could get revenge on me by saying, _Hey, Peter Parker is Spider-Man!_ ’

‘Everyone fell head-over-heels for you,’ Harley teased.

Peter chuckled, but Lila could see the darkness that lingered beneath his eyelids, the effects those events had had on him.

‘That’s dumb,’ the girl on the other side of the table said plainly, rubbing her hands along the sides of the mug. ‘Everyone would have just sided with you instead of the bad guy.’

Peter shrugged. ‘Everyone sided with the bad guy first.’

‘Then that means everyone’s dumb.’

‘And what’s your name, Miss Judge?’ Harley asked.

‘Cassie,’ the girl replied. She jerked a thumb towards the kitchen. ‘My dad’s Ant-Man, but nobody really knows him.’

‘I know him. He slapped me across the face in Germany,’ Peter supplied. Then Morgan slapped him across the face, and everyone sniggered.

‘So you fought my dad,’ Lila said. It was the first time she had spoken to anyone but her brothers, but she didn’t care. That bitter taste was in her mouth again, and she wanted to get rid of it.

Peter could obviously sense her distress, and he set Morgan down into her chair again as he said, ‘Yeah. Maybe we can talk about it a bit later?’

His eyes were dark. Lila knew those eyes – she’d seen them in her dad’s whenever he came back from saving the world, when he fired arrows at the things that towered over him.

Lila nodded, dimly aware of Cassie opening up the packet of cards and trying to get everyone wheezing as she gagged and threw up the cards.

* * *

Lila was reading through one of Morgan’s books in the living room when she heard someone walk up to her. Quickly shutting the book and straightening her position on the couch, Lila looked up to see Harley plop down next to her.

‘What’cha got there?’ he asked.

Lila stayed silent, and instead showed him the book in her hands – _Are You Scared, Darth Vader?_

Harley frowned. ‘Blegh. Never liked Star Wars.’

‘I can say the same,’ Lila muttered, flicking through the pages again. It was true – while the characters were memorable, there was something about the story that just didn’t sit right with her. Like, what kind of franchise pulls the ‘bad guy is actually good guy’s dad’ move? An ultimate failure, that’s what.

‘I just don’t like the prequel trilogy,’ said Harley. ‘They focused too much on political crap. Where’s the drama, the action, the hardcore space warriors we knew back in _A New Hope_?’

Lila shrugged. She fingered the page in the book in her hands, the one where Darth Vader looked odd somewhere into the distance as he said, _I already am cursed_.

‘I’m guessing you don’t talk much,’ Harley said after a moment.

Lila nodded.

‘Why? This place too boring?’

‘It’s not that,’ Lila said, placing the book to the side as she tapped her fingers on her knees. ‘I don’t…know. Something doesn’t sit right here with me. Like I don’t belong here. I don’t _want_ to be here.’

Harley just nodded. ‘When Tony met me, I…I found him in my garage. Tired and cold. I was, what, eight? Can’t even remember anymore, but never mind that. I was just a kid, with a dad who couldn’t give a crap about me and a mum living in a world of denial. The only good thing was my little sister.’ Harley carded a hand through his dirty blonde hair. ‘I was defensive. Never opened up. Why should I? I basically had no future – probably a mechanic, or a cashier, if I was lucky. But then Tony…man, Tony…’

Harley slapped his knee. ‘He opened my eyes, and I opened his. We showed each other that…even when things seem strange, weird, ad cold at first, we gotta find something that’ll keep us warm, and build from there, anchor ourselves to the _now_. Figuratively, obviously. Unless you’re a mechanic.’

Lila sat quietly, wringing her hands. That bitter feeling in her gut subsided a little, but it was still _there_ – reminding her that she was a stranger to a strange place. That while she was welcomed by the people who lived here, they held some sort of secret vendetta against her family. She was scared of that, and it made her angry inside.

But listening to Harley’s side of the story, sticking with the strangeness that had entered his life…it was either exploring the unknown, embracing it even, or die living in the normalcy that took life’s purpose away. Lila could find something that anchored her _here_ , in this strange world she found herself in, just like the memories she had to anchor her back home. She could find something that warmed her here, find something to guide her here whenever she was lost.

Harley huffed, then shoved his hand into his pocket and slipped out a small packet of marshmallows. He popped it open and handed one to Lila. He winked, mouthing, _Pepper’s secret stash of candy_. He got up and left, and Lila was left to stew over his words.

* * *

Cassie saw Lila sitting by herself, and she apparently took it upon herself to give her someone to talk to. It’s not that Lila wanted out, it’s just…the other girl seemed to handle the situation mush easier than her, despite being the only other person whom Lila could probably relate to – having a father going against the majority of the people present today.

Lila was sitting by the table while Cassie dealt out Uno cards. _One, one…two, two…three, three…_

‘So, what’s your story?’ asked Cassie, still dealing out cards. The warm lighting of the living room made her pale skin look tan.

Lila bit her lip. ‘I’m the oldest,’ she stated finally.

‘Ah. Brothers?’

‘Yep.’

‘Cool. Uh, I’m just going to place the deck here.’ Cassie placed the deck next to them before placing the first card onto the table, and they picked up their cards. Lila thought her cards were destined to have her lose.

‘What do you do, when your dad is out…superhero-ing?’ asked Lila, slipping her yellow seven onto the first card.

‘Usually I search up magic tricks,’ Cassie said offhandedly, placing a card down. ‘Sometimes I find new places for the ants to hang out. Honestly, there’s this one carpet ant, I call her Antoinette, she is _so_ picky. She’ll never sleep anywhere I recommend her to. I mean, she’s not a queen ant, for crying out loud.’

Lila nodded along, slapping a card down. ‘Hmm,’ she hummed.

Cassie waved a hand. ‘Never mind that. I just do it to distract myself. Dad is always getting himself shoehorned into weird places – at some point, when I was younger, he ended up working for _Baskin Robbins_. That’s the _pinnacle_ of the broke life.’

‘Oh, yeah?’ asked Lila, snickering a little.

‘Yep,’ Cassie agreed. Then she snorted. ‘Here I am spilling the beans. Why don’t you spill some? Spill some tea, eh, sis?’

‘O-oh? Um…’ Lila thought about it for a moment. ‘I don’t have any “tea”. But I, um…’ She looked around nervously, hoping that none of the adults would hear what she would say when she leaned towards the older girl. ‘I…I don’t want my dad to be a superhero.’

‘Why not?’

‘It’s just…what if he doesn’t come back one day? What if he’s stranded somewhere, and no one finds him? What if he’s trying to do the right thing, but everyone else tells him he’s in the wrong?’ Lila sighed and placed down a card. ‘Is that too much to ask for?’

Cassie chewed on her lip, then placed her cards face down as she thought. Lila furrowed her eyebrows, somewhat confused at Cassie’s action.

‘I lost my dad to the Snap when I was eleven,’ started Cassie. ‘Around your age, I guess. He didn’t show up, he didn’t call, he just…vanished. I didn’t know what to do. My mum and stepdad, they…they were confused. For five years, we had all been living in confusion. And I thought that was it.’ Cassie looked down at her fingers, her green eyes lost in whirlpool of a dark era. ‘My dad was the only source of happiness, my only source of the kind of freedom my mum or stepdad couldn’t give me. And to have him just vanish, it…it hurt.

‘The only I had left of him were…photos. Grainy photos. Photos stuck on the fridge. Photos in scrapbooks. Photos in old albums. Even photos of him when he was my age. I just had these…memories of him. They were the only things left, and I cherished them. I looked up at the world, and my memories of my dad were the things that kept me from breaking down. That kept me going.

‘So you could imagine what happened when he turned up at my doorstep like some…overgrown, hobo puppy. I lost it. Completely lost it. I screamed at him, I cried with him, we did weird things like devouring my mum’s raspberry ice-cream. In that moment – it wasn’t any sort of epiphany or anything – I kind of just realised…sometimes, the memories are all that you need. To remind you, to tell you that there were good things before, and that there are good things after. Even if you love everything.’

Cassie blinked, then picked up her cards again. ‘Um, what I’m trying to say is…don’t be afraid to lose something. Actually, scratch that – _be_ afraid of losing things, but not because once they’re gone, they’re _gone_. But because, yeah, you don’t get to make these memories anymore. All you have left are the collections of the times you had together. And you gotta _rejoice_ them.’

Lila nodded. Cassie’s story nestled itself in her heart like a snake, curling around her insides and trying to get a reaction to burst out of her. But Lila pressed her lips together, and held it in. Because sometimes, even when the angry tried to throttle her, the fear was a whole new kind of experience that trailed Lila every waking moment.

It was like a shadow, whispering uncertainties, planting seeds of doubt that grew into trees of worry whose roots dug deep into her mind. Because, really, Cassie just proved her biggest fear: one day, her Clint Barton might fall wielding his bow in the face of death.

She might not see him again.

But again, Cassie had shown her the other side of curtain. That even when things were dark, she could hold her head up high, carry that memory, and slide the curtains open; acknowledge the things that _could_ light up her life.

Lila was dimly aware of Cassie slamming her final card onto the pile, cheering in her own victory.

And Lila smiled.

* * *

Lila blamed Nathaniel.

Actually, how could she ever blame Nate? If anything, it was Cooper who was always ending up in trouble. But this time…yeah, she’d guessed that this might be the first time she had ever blamed Nate.

Lila was pretending to sip from a plastic cup as Morgan poured imaginary mocha into Nate’s and Cooper’s cups, chatting with them like they were long-time friends as they sat around a small plastic table with crayon marks all over its surface.

It was a very strange experience.

Morgan then drawled, ‘Alrighty! Drink your coffee!’

Everyone took sips, trying to imagine what mocha tasted like. Lila had never indulged herself in coffees – she was eleven, after all – but she had the occasional gulp of cappuccino before. She honestly had no idea what to think of it.

Nathaniel made a loud sound at the back of his throat. ‘This is _delicious_!’ he said.

‘Thank you!’ said Morgan. ‘I made it myself.’

‘Does mocha _really_ have chocolate in it?’ asked Cooper, eyeing his cup as if he could really see the coffee sloshing around inside.

‘My daddy said that mocha is too chocolatey for me,’ Morgan said, reaching for the teapot to pour some more for herself. ‘But before he left…he said when I grow up, I could have all the mocha I wanted.’ She puffed out her chest. ‘And now I’m grown up!’

Lila chuckled. ‘You still have a lot of growing to do, Morgan,’ she said.

‘Yeah!’ agreed Cooper. ‘You have to be as old as me if you want coffee.’

‘No, you have to be _older_ than him if you want coffee,’ corrected Lila, softly pinching Cooper’s ear. Cooper scuttled away from her, throwing defensive cries of terror and promising to exact his revenge on her.

‘How old _are_ you, Lila?’ asked Morgan.

‘I’m eleven.’

‘Can I have coffee when I’m eleven?’

‘My parents haven’t even given me coffee yet.’

Morgan huffed dramatically. ‘Parents are so _bossy_ ,’ she chided to no one. ‘They’re always like “Don’t do this” and “Don’t do that”.’

It suddenly struck Lila how mature Morgan was sounding. She was barely over five, and here she was sounding like the voice that sometimes lingered in Lila’s mind whenever she was grounded. And Lila thought maybe talking like that would…well…hurt Morgan’s father’s feelings.

‘Um, Morgan, I don’t think _all_ parents are like that—’ Lila started.

‘Nah-ah-ah!’ said Morgan, holding up a hand. ‘Parents are _always_ like that.’

‘Was Mr. Tony Stark like that?’ asked Nathaniel.

‘Nate!’ gasped Lila. ‘You can’t just—’

‘My daddy was like that,’ Morgan agreed, nodding her head furiously. ‘Mommy always yelled at my daddy for letting me into his super-secret workshop. But I was always careful, _very_ careful. But then…I couldn’t go into the super-secret workshop anymore. Maybe mommy said something to daddy…’ Morgan shrugged comically, then leaned forward and whispered, ‘I forgave my mommy.’

‘You _forgave_ her?!’ cried Nathaniel. ‘How? Why? She did something mean!’

‘Nate!’ snapped Lila. Nathaniel fell silent, and Morgan shrugged at his question.

A few moments later, Nathaniel declared he needed the bathroom. And then Cooper joined him. Lila told them to ask the grown-ups in the next room, and when they left, Lila found the awkwardness between her and Morgan simmering like warm water. She wanted to talk to her, yes, but she wasn’t sure if Morgan wanted to talk to _her_.

So Lila sat there, fiddling with her plastic cup, boiling in the silence that followed.

‘I lied,’ Morgan said after a moment. ‘I didn’t talk to my mommy for a while when she said I couldn’t go to the super-secret workshop.’

Lila raised an eyebrow. ‘Why did you do that?’ she asked softly.

Morgan shrugged again. ‘My daddy was cool. I wanted to be like him,’ she said, swishing her cup around. ‘But mommy was cool, too. I want to be like her. Sometimes mommy didn’t talk to daddy for a few minutes because he did something silly. But _I_ didn’t do something silly, so why did _I_ have to go back there anymore?’

‘Maybe she was trying to keep you safe?’ suggested Lila.

Morgan gave her a thoughtful face, before nodding. ‘That’s what daddy told me,’ she said. ‘Even when mommy was kind of mean to me and daddy…um, we guessed it was because she wanted to make us happy later.’ Morgan poured in another cup of mocha. ‘Mommy did make us happy later – we watched _Mariposa_ after dinner.’

‘ _Mariposa_ ,’ hummed Lila. ‘That’s a nice movie.’

‘I know!’ squealed Morgan. ‘All the fairies’ wings are _so_ pretty, and I wanted daddy to make me some one day…’

While Morgan rambled off the dreams she wanted to achieve with her long-dead father, Lila couldn’t help but listen to the genuine innocence that filled Morgan’s words. That even when a loved one was against you, it was probably for a justifiable reason.

Like a group of friends turning on one another to fight for thing _they all thought was right_.

Lila accepted Morgan’s offer for another cup of coffee, and that bitter feeling that had been lingering inside her from the first moment she stepped inside faded into a dull throb. It was there, but Morgan’s innocent view on the world, her perspective on something so large and vast narrowed down to a simple form of forgiveness, it crumpled that bitterness.

And for a moment, Lila wondered what it would be like to be innocent and carefree like Morgan again.

* * *

Just as the evening sun slipped beneath the horizon, Lila found Peter sitting at the edge of the garden. Lila had left Cooper and Nathaniel with Morgan, since they were all around the same age, give or take a few years; they had taken to playing in the backyard, near the shed where Morgan had set up a tent and various items for a sleepover.

With the leaves and dry grass crunching beneath her feet, Lila walked up to Peter, who was fiddling with a silver bracelet clipped onto his wrist. The cool blue sky made everything look ghostly, like a movie about being lost in a snowy forest.

Peter noticed Lila, but he didn’t make an immediate move to show her that. After a moment, he said, ‘I know what you’re probably thinking.’

‘Why?’ Lila asked, ignoring Peter’s attempt of being calm.

‘I started out as Spider-Man as a geeky fourteen-year-old,’ he said. ‘You could say I was immature back then. I agree, maybe. But the reason as to _why_ I became Spider-Man hasn’t changed.’ Peter looked up at Lila, and she saw that emptiness in his face as instead filled with a sort of mix between grief and pride. ‘I did it to help the little guys. To protect the ordinary people that sometimes the Avengers couldn’t.’

‘Then why did you fly to Germany?’ asked Lila. She sat down next to Peter and ran her fingers through the soft dirt. ‘No one there needed your help.’

‘Actually Mr. St— _Tony_. Tony recruited me, I had no idea the Avengers were splitting up or anything,’ Peter answered. ‘He told me the basics of what was happening – you know, the Sokovia Accords, Captain America and his side disagreeing with them while Iron Man and his side supported them.

‘At the time, I thought supporting the Accords was the right thing. If it meant less lives being lost, a reduction in collateral damage, I would be up for it, no questions asked.’ Peter sighed. ‘Mr. Stark later told me that the Accords were full of loopholes. It would put an end to casualties and injuries, but it’d also mean there would be no one out there trying to protect everyone. No one left to protect the little guy.

'So, you know what happens next. Thanos barges in, half of all life blips out. The Avengers come together one last time and brought everyone back. The world was caught up in confusion when everyone came back. I was, too - without Iron Man guarding the world, everyone looked up to _me_. They expected me to be their guardian, their next Iron Man. And I was so caught up in trying to prove I was worthy of that title, so caught up in trying to become my own person, that everything became even more dangerous. Mysterio gave away my name to the world. From there...it was chaotic. I had no choice but to set things right.'

Peter’s words sunk in, the weight behind them like a blanket of lead. It occurred to Lila that maybe Peter didn’t want to be Spider-Man – he felt like he _should_ be Spider-Man, he was obligated to, like he was given no choice and that he had to abide the rules of his new lifestyle.

‘I never actually fought your dad,’ Peter said after a moment. ‘I webbed a few arrows, tossed them away, but I never actually hurt anyone. I _don’t_ want to hurt anyone. Especially if they’re someone I know.’

Lila looked up and found Peter staring at her. The words he spoke seemed to shift into something more than admittance – something like a promise. A promise that said, _I will do anything and everything to keep the people in my presence safe._

And then, the bitterness was gone.

And Lila—

Lila—

She hugged herself—

And let herself grin. A grin that made her feel so much…better. For the first time since coming here, she felt so _unburdened_ , she felt _welcomed_ by the people who were in a similar boat to her.

The initiative. The memories. The forgiveness. The responsibility.

These things…they were important. Lila had just lost sight of them, submerged in a sea of false anger and smothered by the fears that plagued her for living in a life like this. Lila had been afraid to _move on_.

But there were always people who were here – whether it be a teenager or a small child – who could help point her in the right direction again. Even if the world around you was cold. Even if there was nothing bright left. Even if everyone you knew turned on you. Even if the responsibility called out to you more than your freedom.

These things were important.

And Lila would never forget them, and the people who them to her.

The Starks’ home in the middle of the woods was not too far from civilisation, but close enough to see the rising buildings of New York. It was quiet, peaceful, serene.

The Starks’ home looked alone amongst the large trees here.

But the home’s heart always glowed. It was always bright.

And it would always be bright so long as the youths who visited continued to visit, continued to add to the glow of the home, continued to add to the memories that piled up in the corners, continued to laugh and fight and forgive over disputes that happened almost anywhere at any time, continued to raise their heads up high and look out for the others here.

These were things that belonged in a home.

A home that not only belonged to just the Starks, but to everyone.

And they all knew it.

**_End._ **

**Author's Note:**

> What even is this, my heart


End file.
